Thank you
...for your help.
It is not often that you can see an idea come into being right before your eyes.
Our family experienced this when we dreamed of a memorial in Juneau to remind us of Sept. 11 2001.
The memorial we dreamed of now stands in Rotary Park as a symbol of the patriotism, courage and generosity we as Americans experienced.
Remarkably this memorial was conceived, planned, built and then dedicated exactly one year later. This would never have been possible without the support of many individuals in the community.
My wife, daughter and I extend our many thanks to those who shared in this effort and cared enough to get involved with their time, money and creative talents.
I was especially proud and pleased that Glacier Valley Rotary supported this memorial project from the beginning. As the plans grew and changed they embraced the idea and supported it enthusiastically and financially. They also sponsored the dedication service that was attended by the members of the Juneau Police Department, Capital City Fire and Rescue, U.S. Coast Guard, Army National Guard, U.S. Army, several state and federal law enforcement agencies, Mayor Sally Smith, Assembly members, city officials, Rep. Bill Hudson, Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, Sen. Kim Elton and hundreds of Juneau citizens.
To fully appreciate the community effort involved in this memorial and the dedication service I would like to thank the following:
• Max Mertz and Leslie Dahl, current and past presidents of Glacier Valley Rotary for their support and dedication to this project.
• Dirk Lovig/Alaska Stone and Concrete for his generous donation of materials and creative talents in the construction of the memorial. A big thank you to Dirk's crew for their incredibly hard work; Pete Costello, Ray Spangler, Allen Braswell, Bob Londales, Brad Barger, Mark Cady and Calvin Weimer.
• Kim Kiefer/Director of Parks and Recreation for her support and guidance.
• City and Borough of Juneau, parks division; Jonathon Mollick, Doug Drexel for the site foundation and grade work.
• City and Borough of Juneau, landscape division; Terry Hinkley and his crew for the landscape work.
• Wayne Jensen/Jensen Yorba Lott for the conversion of memorial sketches to CAD drawings.
• Bill Wilkerson/Alaskan Memorial Park for the donation of the bronze dedication plaque.
• Todd Luck/Oliver's Trophy for the donation of the United States flag.
• Tyler Rentals for the forklift used to raise the flagpole.
• Juneau Electric and Dean Marples / Juneau Ready-Mix for their participation.
At the dedication ceremony:
• Jamie Allenbaugh-Letterman for the program design.
• U.S. Coast Guard color guard.
• Chris Letterman for sound operation.
• Nugget Mall for the use of their sound system.
• Fred Wilson/Juneau School District for the use of their staging.
• Dave Spargo/Alaska Souvenirs for creating the limited production Rotary 9/11 Memorial pins.
• Kathy Smith for the "Remember our Heroes" pins.
• Marion Hobbs/Adlersheim Wilderness Lodge, Mendenhall Auto, Don Abel and Western Auto for the use of their tents.
• Chapel By The Lake for the use of their chairs.
• Joe Parish and the SAGA crew for setting up and taking down the tents.
• Don Smith and the Juneau Empire for the numerous ads for police officer of the year and event coverage.
• Renda Heimbigner, Kevin Myers and David Sheakley from the Capital City Weekly for the numerous articles of support and dedication coverage.
• KINY and Chris Burns.
• KTOO.
• Doug Gardner for playing the bagpipes during the ceremony.
• Pat Funk and the Glacier Valley Elementary School children for singing.
• Boy Scouts of America for participating in the flag raising ceremony and for the use of their flags that lined the walkway.
• Charlie Jones/Printing Trade Company for printing the invitations.
• Glacier Restaurant for the catering the dedication reception.
• Kirby Day/Princess Cruises for donating a "Cruise for Two" which was presented to the Police Officer of the Year.
• Glacier Valley Rotary Club Rotary Park committee members for the planning of the memorial and dedication ceremony; Jeff Grant, Jonathon Herrick, Harold Heidersdorf, Jamie Allenbaugh-Letterman, Chris Letterman, Mark Powers, Todd Luck, David Summers and Chuck Kaltenbach.
May this memorial stand and remind future generations to never forget what happened to our country on Sept. 11, 2001, but let us also never forget what happened in the days following this tragedy and the miracle that occurred in each one of us. We found within our nation, goodness, compassion, generosity and true American courage.
Brent, Debbie and Alyssa Fischer
...for your work.
Sept. 11, 2002 at Rotary Park was a demonstration of Juneau at it's finest.
Our community came together to pay homage to the victims of 9/11 and to honor the civil servants of Juneau, our policemen and firefighters who insure that Juneau is a safe place to live.
My hats off to Brent and Debbie Fischer for providing the inspiration for this event and to the Glacier Valley Rotary Club for seizing that vision and making it a reality. You are all to be commended, this event touched the soul of our community.
On behalf of the citizens of Juneau, "Thank you Glacier Valley Rotary Club."
Ray Vidic
Juneau
...for your time.
Over a number of years during the salmon derby, which we have all enjoyed, I've always said somebody should say thank you to those of you who have put the salmon derby together, and for the many hours of paperwork, plus the time taken to collect prizes for the derby, and then trying to decide how to distribute them in a fair manner. As you get older it is very easy to procrastinate, and I'm just two days older than dirt, so I've been procrastinating. Every salmon derby that I've participated in, I have turned in a catch for a prize, except twice. Both of those times, the boat was trolling too fast, and all I caught was a cold. So, to those of you who put the salmon derby together, I say thank you!
Angus McCulloch
Juneau
...for the hard work.
AWARE would like to thank United Way for creating the University of Alaska Southeast Day of Caring as a way to kick off their annual campaign. The United Way Day of Caring brought UAS volunteers to AWARE to assemble playground equipment that was donated to us by the Soroptimists International of Juneau. Valley Lumber generously provided a flatbed truck to transport the structure to the shelter. On behalf of the hundreds of women and children seeking safe shelter at AWARE, we thank the UAS volunteers Ashley Ahrens, Michael Boyer, Sahra Clark, Frank Clark, Ryan Green, David Langilotti, Tracy Wendt, Mark Graves, and Emily Wescott. Your hard work, perseverance and skill provided the many children who use our services with a safe place to exercise and play.
Through the community's contributions to the United Way, agencies like AWARE receive funding to provide important services in our community. Together we can nurture families and provide safety. Thanks to the United Way and UAS for creating a healing environment for those who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
Saralyn Tabachnick
AWARE executive director
...for all the help.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, students arrived early to school with their fathers to enjoy each other's company and have breakfast at the annual Harborview Parent/ Teacher Association "Donuts for Dads." This event gives the PTA and Harborview Elementary an opportunity to show their appreciation for the fathers of our school and thank them for their support. It was the largest attendance to this event in years.
Donations for the breakfast were given by Silverbow, Heritage Coffee and Alaskan & Proud Market. Thank you to these businesses for their generosity in making this event possible.
Marna McGonegal
PTA Chair